AOPA President Mark Baker and AOPA Foundation Executive Director Jim Minow are challenging one another to see who can recruit the most Hat in the Ring Society members for the foundation before the end of the year.

For Daniel Bier, “Flight of Passage” is more than a book that tells the story of two teens who buy a dilapidated Piper Cub and restore it to take a flight across America in 1966. It’s the reason he and his father started taking cross-country flights in a Piper Archer a few years ago.

Transportation Security Administration chief John Pistole announced Oct. 16 that he would retire from the helm of the agency on Dec. 31. According to the TSA, Pistole is the longest serving administrator the agency has had. His nomination to head the TSA was confirmed in 2010.

Rain the night before may have dampened the grass at Frederick Municipal Airport, but it didn’t dampen the spirits of about 3,000 attendees who turned out for the AOPA Homecoming Fly-In in Maryland Oct. 4.

Pilots find breathtaking beauty in the curve of a propeller, the shape of a wing, even the thoughtful interface of a piece of avionics. But who makes this stuff and, in some cases, keeps it beautiful for decades?